Today's Opinions

Why does South Carolina’s agriculture industry get its own taxpayer-supported ad campaign?
The Certified SC Grown program, run by the S.C. Department of Agriculture, is “the most comprehensive resource for locally sourced SC produce, specialty crops and products” – so says its website. In short, it’s a state-sponsored advertising campaign for S.C. farmers and agricultural producers.
It was started in 2007, and it shows no sign of slowing down or shrinking.

This is a response to Dr. Brooks Walker’s Nov. 23 column “Booing, lecturing VP-elect Pence was rude, vain, sanctimonious.”
Dr. Walker, did you have a problem when a sitting member of Congress exercised his right to free speech by interrupting President Obama’s address to Congress and calling him a liar?
I don’t remember reading your submission on that one.
You’re an educated man. What would be happening today if Trump had won the popular vote by 2 million votes and lost the election? Mayhem!

I read with great interest of your encounter with Linda Blackmon. I’d like to share my experience when I first met her.
I’d moved from Newberry to Lancaster in ‘02. I was doing yard work in our front yard when this woman approached. She handed me a card which said she was seeking political office. I was busy, but I did stop to speak to her. Her conversation rambled on and on, and after an interminable and wasted time, I told her I needed to get back to work, and I walked away from her.

I would like to address your Nov. 20 article “No marauding motorcyclists at Christmas parade.”
Please indulge me as I would like to begin this letter to the editor by telling you a little about who I am and what I stand for.
I am a devout Christian and a committed husband of nearly 18 years. I am a father of three who leads his family by example, not just in word. I am a U.S. Army combat veteran who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom Phase I.

The Judicial Merit Selection Commission began meeting last week to vet judges for seats around South Carolina, marking the bi-annual migration of judicial candidates to the State House. That’s where the problem lies: would-be judges are kowtowing to lawmakers again.
On the road to a state judgeship, the first stop is a vetting at the JMSC, a panel composed of six legislators and four other citizens appointed by legislators. It’s the same commission where former House Speaker Bobby Harrell placed his brother.

On the Nov. 2 opinion page, Heather Mueller wrote about the substance abuse prevention policies of the candidates for Lancaster County sheriff.
Unfortunately, the information she provided about DARE’s curriculum is outdated. DARE has been implementing Keepin’ It REAL for more than eight years. This curriculum is labeled “evidence-based” or effective by the very National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices that she touts for its veracity, which lists DARE as a provider.

I have said that I cherish free speech, but I also cherish civility and was disturbed by what happened to Vice President-elect Mike Pence when he went to the theater Friday night.
Mr. Pence went to see the Broadway musical “Hamilton” and was greeted with boos and then subjected to comments from one of the actors. Some have said the actor was very polite as he called out Mr. Pence in a public setting, but I felt his comments were sanctimonious, delivered in a tone of condescending sarcasm.